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Tuesday, November 23, 2010

i'm in love with a [seahorse]

Pretty soon I'm going to find the time to commit to writing a post about some of our can't-live-without baby gear. It's sometimes been surprising what things have proven vital for keeping Natalie entertained and happy, and what things we thought for sure we'd be using all the time that in reality we've maybe used once. Until I've got it together enough to do justice to that kind of entry, I thought I'd just take a moment to gush about one particular item that we lovelovelove in this house.

One of my favorite things (and, really, one of Natalie's favorite things), is her Soothe and Glow Seahorse. I got it on a whim after reading this post on Dear Baby, and have since read other moms' gushing about the Seahorse. Mikey dubbed him the Zorse when Natalie was about 3 days old (I think as in an abbreviated "S'Horse" type nickname, but, really, who knows. We were very, very tired in those first days... probably he was just speaking gibberish.), and we were pretty quickly amazed at how the little gurgly noises, lullabies, and glowing belly seemed to make Natalie happy. She could spend all kinds of quiet time staring at Zorse, figuring out how to maneuver her fingers to grip on to his little flippers, and would fall asleep every night with him next to her in her bassinet.

We seriously thought that Natalie's days-old tucked in lower lip and chin, and her perky little nose looked just like the Zorse, and would crack up taking pictures of the two of them posed side by side, looking so much alike.

After about 3 months of hard-core Zorse time, Natalie seemed to grow out of needing his gurgly noises to put herself to sleep. Either that, or we started going nutso hearing those lullabies five times a night. In any case, the Zorse retired to one of the shelves in Natalie's nursery, and we rarely pulled him out to play.

That is, until pretty recently. My mom was the first to put Zorse back in rotation, cuddling him up with Natalie when it was time to rock her before a nap. Soon she noticed that Natalie was always rubbing the silky material of Zorse's flippers and mane (mane?) as a soothing mechanism, so we started bringing him out when she was acting fussy around naptime or bedtime.

And now? Well, now we're back in full-on Zorse loving mode. He is a savior during diaper changes, before bed, in the middle of the night if nothing else seems to be getting our tired budgie back to sleep, and there is no other toy that will keep her occupied in her crib or playpen if I need a few minutes to, say, brush my teeth or jump in the shower.

1 comment:

You're right about one thing, Flagg: We were really tired in those first few weeks. "Zorse" is somewhere between sea horse and zebra, though that glowing blue beauty has nary a stripe to be found.

The truth is, I thought that he looked like Moosel from The Wuzzles, a wildly unpopular 80's cartoon. And yet, "Zorse" is what I called him. So yes, I suppose you could say I was tired. It seems I still am.

About BabyMooHoo

Hi, I'm Hilary! In between office hours, playdates, and couch-snuggling with the Moo, I update this little blog. Not every day is perfect in MooHooVille, but we tend to be glass-half-full kinda people so there's a lot of happy in my corner of the internet. Thanks for stopping by & be sure to leave a comment saying hello so I can visit you, too!